“I believe such (an) apocalyptic scenario is unlikely and hope that it will never get to that point,” he said.
Putin said he’s confident the crisis will stabilize if the Minsk Agreement is implemented.
The accord, between Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany, includes a ceasefire between Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists and an agreement for both sides to pull back heavy weapons.
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The United Nations says more than 5,000 people have been killed since mid-April amid the fighting between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian troops. Many of those killed were civilians.
CNN’s Erin McLaughlin and Elena Sandyrev contributed to this report.
